Not many sidecars around here. I've been riding a motorcycle for about 4 years now, and loving it. I started with a scooter and moved up to an old KZ650. I had a lot of fun fixing that bike up and learning how to fix it. A couple months ago, my wife and I bought a Honda Goldwing. It's a 1984 GL1200. I'm in love:o) I've done all the maintenance on it and it runs better than ever now. A few days ago, I mentioned that I thought that a sidecar would be kind of fun to my wife. She's sold on the Idea:o)
I'm a machinist, I can weld, and have done a small amount of fiberglass work. I love to build things. I am planing on building my own sidecar. I've been researching them on the internet and have found a lot of information on them. I have one drawn up and will start on it shortly. In fact I bought a front wheel off of a Goldwing and it showed up today. I'll start on the axle and the frame mounts this week. What size bolts do you recommend to mount the car to the tug?
I'll make sure I post plenty of pictures:o)
Later, Wes
Welcome aboard Wes.
The mounting bolt size depends upon the type of mounts you are using.
With clevis and eye or heim joint mounts they usually can range from 12mm to 5/8" SAE. The main thing is to have high strength bolts and nuts of grade 8.8 or better if metric and grade 8 if SAE.
When in doubt, make it stout!
We are also in Idaho. Stop in if you are nearby.
Lonnie
Northwest Sidecars, LLC
Boise, Idaho
(208)629-8409
I'm only about 3 hours away from you Lonnie. I live in Burley. It's a little past Twin Falls. 5/8" sounds good. Everything will be stout. I was going to use 1" X.100" wall tube for the frame. Will this be good or should I use 1.5" X .100? It will be bent and welded. I am going to make a clamp that fit's on the downtube in the front of my Goldwing. I'll probably make the bolt on it 3/4". I was going to make the clevis and Eye mounts, but the Heim joint might be better? I'll have to think it over.
Thanks, Wes
1 1/2" or 2" x .120" wall square tube is a lot easier to work with.
Lonnie
Welcome to the forum. I'm just up in Bellevue,about an hour and a half from you. I've got a Honda Silverwing with a Dneper sidecar. I picked up a second bike for parts and wound up putting it on the road also. I've decided that two wheels is a lot more nimble, but it's just too risky, so I also am thinking of building a sidecar for bike #2. Keep in touch
Mark
Is it a Silverwing scooter or one of the older bikes? I had an older 650 for a short while. The timing chain started to go and I didn't know enough about bikes to fix it. Wish I still had it, it had a torqy motor. We'll have to get together sometime:o0
Wes
It's the 1983 one. (Quarter century old) and yes I just went through the cam chain issue this summer.
Well, I scrounged up some springs today. They are off the front of some old snowmobile. I think they will hold the carriage pretty good. I needed these before I can design my frame. I also am going to bore out the wheel for some bearings. I have some Timken style bearings that will work good. After I get the wheel bored out, I'll start on the axle. There will be pictures:o)
later, Wes
Hang on to those skis, they might come in handy in a month or so.
